University of St. Thomas Athletics
Bethel
Football rides defense to giant win at Bethel, 19-10
11/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Senior cornerback Kris Kopp had a pickoff and two fumble recoveries to lead to a big day for the Tommie defense as No. 10-ranked St. Thomas scored a 19-10 MIAC football victory over Bethel on a sunny Saturday in Arden Hills.
Coach Glenn Caruso's Tommies (8-1 overall, 7-1 MIAC) locked up a top-two conference finish and took a large step toward landing an NCAA playoff berth. St. Thomas closes the regular season at home next Saturday against Northwestern College. With a win, the Tommies will likely receive the school's first NCAA playoff berth since 1990.
In winning for the 10th time in their last 11 games, St. Thomas shut out the Royals in the second half. The Tommies never trailed and limited Bethel (6-3, 5-2) to 10 first downs and 241 yards of offense, including just 72 yards on five second-half possessions.
It's just the second time in 18 seasons that a Tommie football team has started 8-1. It's also the first time St. Thomas has posted back-to-back wins over the Royals since 1995.
Kopp, who spent his first two seasons as a quarterback, covered all three Bethel turnovers, each in Royals' territory. He added four solo tackles, including a fourth-down tackle-for-loss that stopped an early BU drive inside the St. Thomas 25-yard line.
Other UST defensive standouts included juniors Tommy Becker (eight tackles), Zach Sturm (seven tackles, forced fumble) and Wyatt Delgado (seven tackles).
Sophomore QB Dakota Tracy threw three short TD passes in third-and-goal situations. Two came in crowded end zones to Jake Friederichs and Nick Gleisner, and another went to a wide open Tony Margarit. Tracy, in his first career road start, completed 11-of-18 passes for 105 yards.
Friederichs now has nine touchdowns among 21st career catches.
Junior Ben Wartman rushed for 133 tough yards on 32 carries, including six consecutive runs and two first downs on the final drive that drained the clock. Wartman now has surp
assed 100 yards for the 15th time in the last 17 games, and UST is 14-1 when he eclipses 100. He also had 21 yards on two catches.
For the ninth game in a row, the Tommie running backs didn't have a turnover, and Wartman now has 344 consecutive touches without a fumble. Bethel came in with 26 sacks in eight games but had none on the day, as UST still has allowed just two sacks on the season.
Fritz Waldvogel drew plenty of BU attention. The explosive sophomore KR-WR was limited to six catches for 66 yards and had 105 all-purpose yards on 11 touches.
PHOTO: Kris Kopp
Bethel blocked a field goal after a low snap and blocked two PAT kicks. Former Tommie LB Ross Petterson had an interception in the red zone and 14 tackles to lead the Royals.
Click here to view more Greg Smith action photos:
Click here for box score:
http://athletics.bethel.edu/custompages/football/2009/stats/UST-FB.HTM#GAME.PLY
Wyatt Delgado (42) (Greg Smith photo)
Freshman Garrett Engelhardt of Wayzata had a 27-yard kickoff return to midfield. (Greg Smith photo)
Tommy Becker (11) and Zach Sturm (34) apply pressure after a fumbled snap on a late field-goal try. (Greg Smith photo)
Fritz Waldvogel (4), Trevor Flaten (31) and Ben Wartman (middle) celebrate a big victory. (Greg Smith photo)
Parents and fans cheer on the Toms after the final horn sounded. (Greg Smith photo)
Ben Wartman (8) surpassed 100 rushing yards for the 15th time in 17 games. (Greg Smith photo)
